KFC SuperCoach Plus: 11 things you need to know for Round 1

From the best captain choices for Round 1 to players you need to trade out now and fixture analysis, here are 11 nuggets from SuperCoach Plus to help your team.

Round 1 is finally here.

To help you get your team in order, we’ve delived into SuperCoach Plus to find the stats nuggets that can give you the edge.

SuperCoach Plus is a treasure trove of stats and tools including Break Evens, score and price projections, a bye planner, the new Trade Assist button and lots more. And now SuperCoach Plus subscribers can see live KFC SuperCoach scores for every AFL game in the 2022 season.

And you get exclusive weekly analysis articles just like this one!

SIGN UP TO KFC SUPERCOACH PLUS FOR LIVE SCORES, EXCLUSIVE STATS, TEAM LATEST AND MORE!

1. PICK AN EARLY CAPTAIN (OR VC)

While we are juggling those last-minute selection calls, don’t forget to nominate a captain and vice-captain for Round 1, and it might pay to go early. There are some big points on offer in the Grand Final rematch if past history is anything to go on. Clayton Oliver played the Bulldogs three times last year for returns of 139, 144 and 139 points. Jack Macrae scored 115 points in the Grand Final and 145, 146 and 141 from his three previous encounters with the Demons. Max Gawn let Luke Jackson take centre stage on Grand Final night but if the pre-season is any guide, he’s not taking a back seat this year. Take out that score of 95 and he averages 126.5 in his past five against the Dogs, with a low score of 117 in that time. Josh Dunkley also loves playing the Dees if you look at his career average of 132 from three games against them, but that is heavily weighted by the 202 he scored in 2019. His other two scores against Melbourne are 106 and 88.

GWS co-captain Stephen Coniglio gets himself up for the Battle of the Bridge. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

2. MORE GREAT CAPTAIN CHOICES

If you would rather wait for a captain or an early VC option doesn’t live up to expectations, there are a lot more players we can turn to in a blockbuster Round 1 fixture. Brodie Grundy faces off against St Kilda on Friday night, a team he has scored 126, 103 and 144 against in his past three – and he averages 116.8 at Marvel Stadium. Saints skipper Jack Steele scored 154 against the Pies last year, but you can top that in Saturday’s Cats v Bombers game – when those teams last met Darcy Parish put up 190 points on the back of 43 disposals and 13 clearances. And remember when Lachie Neale was a regular captaincy choice? He could be again in 2022 and his record against Port Adelaide is excellent, scoring 130, 177 and 118 in his past three. If you are prepared to wait until the final game of the round Touk Miller could be a great option against the depleted Eagles, but it’s worth noting he has never scored 100 points against them in seven career encounters.

3. MORE OPPO ANALYSIS

Players to avoid as captain or vice-captain picks this round based on their scoring history against their Round 1 opponent include Ollie Wines (av 73 in his past three against Brisbane) and Nic Naitanui (av 87 in his past three against Gold Coast). Picking Stephen Coniglio as captain might be pushing it, but his pre-season has been great and he likes playing the Swans – scoring 92, 95 and 103 in his past three against the Giants’ cross-town rivals. And those picking Matt Rowell will be buoyed by the fact he produced his career-high score of 171 points against the Eagles – in just his second career game.

Dustin Martin feasts on the Blues in Round 1 every year.. Picture: Michael Klein

4. ROUND 1 SPECIALISTS

If you had a feeling Dustin Martin loves the Round 1 stage, you’re right – in his past five season-openers against Carlton he has scores of 158, 126, 109, 139 and 159. The average of 138 makes him the No.1 opening round scorer in that time (and he’s pretty good value this year at $503,500). Not far behind is Tom Mitchell, who has an average of 135 in his past five Round 1 matches. He faces North Melbourne on Sunday, a team that gave up five 100-plus scores in its last AAMI Series game. The next best Round 1 averages over the past five seasons belong to Ben Cunnington (125), Stephen Coniglio (122 ... maybe that captaincy idea isn’t so crazy after all), Travis Boak (119), Dyson Heppell (119), Lance Franklin (118), Shannon Hurn (118), Jacob Hopper (118) and Rory Laird (115).

5. MR POPULAR

Nick Daicos enters Round 1 as the most popular selection in KFC SuperCoach, featuring in more than three-quarters of all teams. His ownership percentage of 76.2 per cent, which you can see in SuperCoach Plus, edges out Coniglio (71.1 per cent), Jason Horne-Francis (68.6 per cent), Josh Rachele (62.2 per cent) and Josh Dunkley (57.7 per cent). Rookies Sam De Koning and Josh Ward also feature in the top 10 along with Max Gawn, Lachie Neale and Lachie Whitfield.

Nick Daicos is in more KFC SuperCoach teams than any other player. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

6. TRADE THESE PLAYERS OUT NOW!

If you still have these players in your team – and plenty do – make sure you trade them out before lockout. Lion Keidean Coleman (3.5 per cent of teams) has been ruled out for two months with a serious hamstring injury, Sam Walsh (2.2 per cent) won’t play for a few weeks at least and Eagles rookie Campbell Chesser (1.9 per cent) is on West Coast’s inactive list with a long-term injury. More concerning are popular rookies with a very low chance of being picked in Round 1 – watch team sheets, but if Elijah Hollands (currently in 38.8 per cent of teams), Will Kelly (31.9 per cent), Charlie Parker (23 per cent), James Tsitas (16.4 per cent) or Will Gould (13.9 per cent) aren’t named, find someone who is! Braydon Preuss is still in 19 per cent of teams despite being suspended for Round 1 – hopefully it’s on the bench.

7. WHERE’S THE SUPERCOACH LOVE?

We love a point of difference selection in KFC SuperCoach and if you’re looking for an extreme POD, there are players set to get games who are in a tiny handful of teams on the eve of Round 1. Jarman Impey was one of the best buys of 2021 but he sits in just 148 teams, Saints veteran Seb Ross – likely to get more midfield time with Zak Jones and Hunter Clark unavailable – is in just 163 teams, Bomber Kyle Langford is in 164 and Gold Coast’s Darcy Macpherson is in just 74. Mitch Crowden attended 22 centre bounces for the Dockers in their AAMI Series game, the most at the club, but is in just 99 teams (in contrast, Nick Daicos in just over 93,000 teams). As for the 273 players who have Liam Jones in their squad, what are you thinking? He might score some points this year but they will be for Southport Sharks.

Saint Seb Ross isn’t getting much love in KFC SuperCoach. Picture: Michael Klein

8. BYE, BYE, BYE?

Have you thought about the byes when locking in your starting squad? There is a lot on our minds right now but taking a look at the fixture could save you some heartache when they roll around in Rounds 12, 13 and 14. Our teams will change by then, but the best tip for now is to try to avoid having too many season-long keepers with the same bye, especially in the same position – it could be the tie-breaker between two players you can’t split as starting selections. For example, popular forwards Stephen Coniglio, Zak Butters and Dustin Martin all share the Round 12 bye, along with Blues Mitch McGovern and Charlie Curnow. If you still have them all at that stage it could be tough to field 18 scoring players. In Round 13 KFC SuperCoach players who have stacked their midfield with Bulldogs (Jack Macrae, Marcus Bontempelli) and Suns (Touk Miller, Matt Rowell) will take a hit, while Round 14 could be a tough one for the defence (Jack Crisp, Daniel Rich, James Sicily, Luke Ryan) and midfield (Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Lachie Neale). Jason Horne-Francis, Nick Daicos and Josh ward will all be missing that week, too – it could be the perfect time to cash them in.

9. BREAK EVEN WATCH

Player prices don’t move until after they have played three matches, so there are no “bubble boys” in Round 1 but it pays to keep one eye on Break Evens – you can see every player’s BE (the score a player needs to hit to maintain their price) in SuperCoach Plus on the player screen (select “Break Evens” on the drop-down menu). Bargain basement rookies like Essendon’s Nick Martin ($102,400 FWD) and Saint Jack Hayes ($102,400 RUC/FWD) have the lowest BEs in the comp at just 19 points. The BE for a $123k rookie is slightly higher (23) while top-end rookies like Nick Daicos (36) and Jason Horne-Francis (38) have to do a little more to guarantee cash generation. Opening Break Evens for popular cheapies include Mitch McGovern (47), Stephen Coniglio (48) and Jarrod Berry (49), but these could be a lot lower by Round 3 if they kick the year off with some good scores.

Jack Hayes can make some quick cash if he puts points on the board early. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

10. BREAK EVEN WATCH (2)

At the other end of the Break Even scale it’s no surprise the most expensive players in KFC SuperCoach have to score the most to maintain their current price. Jack Macrae’s BE of 129 is the highest in the competition, but given he has averaged 129, 121, 123 and 127 in the past four seasons, don’t bank on him getting much cheaper any time soon. He is just head of Jack Steele (126), Touk Miller (125) and Clayton Oliver (123). The trick here is to watch for a BE to spike following an injury or a one-off poor game, a sign you can soon snap up a top-line star at a bargain price.

11. LIVE SCORES!

SuperCoach Plus has a host of great features and this year subscribers will see live KFC SuperCoach scores for every player in every game of the home-and-away season. Track how your captain is scoring, what every kick, mark and clanger does to your players’ totals – and how you are performing in your head-to-head league match-ups as the games unfold across the round. SuperCoach Plus is free with a masthead or Code Sports subscription, or you can sign up for a Year Pass for $24.95 here.

Originally published as KFC SuperCoach Plus: 11 things you need to know for Round 1